Arts Network Exhibitions

ThreeWorlds : Photo-Poetry-Art Exhibition


By Andrew J. West. Curated by Bancha Nangsue



These “photo-poems” are a variation of ekphrasis (poetry with works of art as their subject). They are short verses presented with photographic portraits of 27 Thai artists taken with a piece of their art, and thus are an attempt to unite the two art forms of visual art and writing. Each rhythmic verse is a response, created quickly, but which flows freely in any direction and is capable of being interpreted by the viewer in many different ways. The words intend to evoke the same visceral response in the viewer as a visual artwork, applying techniques such as narration, description, evocation, juxtaposition, etc, in their response to the individual artists portrayed and their visual works. The title Three Worlds was selected as it references The Three Worlds—or Traiphum [Thai: ไตรภูมิพระร่วง]—the earliest known Thai language illustrated manuscript created ca. 1345. In this exhibition, however, Three Worlds—translated into Thai language literally [Thai: สามโลก]—describes the project’s tripartite combination of photography, poetry and art.
 

Image Gallery